Love Actually Originally Featured a Lesbian Couple That Director Richard Curtis Regrets Cutting

Iconic rom-com and holiday staple Love Actually originally featured a same-sex couple that fans would have likely fallen in love with. According to a clip posted by BuzzFeed, writer and director Richard Curtis reveals in the DVD’s bonus material that he originally included an older lesbian couple among the rest of the Christmas movie’s duos, which included stars Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, and Keira Knightley.

The subplot, which Curtis admits he now regrets editing out, revolved around a seemingly unlikeable headmistress (Anne Reid) who — unknown to anyone around her — was caring for her terminally-ill partner, played by Frances de la Tour.

“The idea was meant to be that you just casually met this very sort of stern headmistress,” Curtis explains in the clip. “Later on in the film … we suddenly fell in with the headmistress and you realize that no matter however unlikely it seems, that any character you come across in life has their own complicated tale of love.”

“It jumps rather quickly at the end,” Curtis explains of their heartbreaking story, which concludes with her partner’s death. “But I thought it was worth you seeing it.”